Conway Takes Race 1 Of Indy Duel in Detroit
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DETROIT — Mike Conway earned his second IZOD IndyCar Series victory and is poised to receive a $50,000 bonus if he can sweep the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans.
Conway, who started second in the Honda-powered No. 18 Sonny’s car for Dale Coyne Racing, overtook Ryan Hunter-Reay for the lead on Lap 44 of 70 on the 2.35-mile, 13-turn street circuit, built a 20-second gap leading into the final round of pit stops and went on to a commanding victory.
“The car has been great all weekend and as the track was rubbering in it was getting better and better,” said Conway, who claimed his other series at Long Beach in 2011. “It was keep pushing and get a gap, and the strategy worked out perfectly at the end. I wanted to stay out and do more laps.”
Hunter-Reay, the reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion, was 12.9707 seconds back and Conway’s teammate, Justin Wilson, claimed his second consecutive top-five finish by holding off 2012 race winner Scott Dixon by .0984 of a second for third.
Should Conway sweep the doubleheaders this season will receive the $50,000 SONAX Perfect Finish Award, which will be up for grabs at Toronto and Houston’s twin bills. If Conway can’t complete the task at Belle Isle, the prize fund carries
over to Toronto in mid-July ($100,000). If no one wins both of those races, the Houston doubleheader in early October will be worth $150,000.
Conway also claimed the Verizon P1 Award for Race 2 on June 2 with the quickest lap in the two-group qualification session six hours before Race 1. It was the first earned IZOD IndyCar Series pole for the driver from England and Dale Coyne Racing.
The Verizon P1 Award was awarded to the best overall lap time in the two sessions. The remainder of the cars in the pole sitter’s group will occupy the odd-numbered starting grid positions, starting with third. Cars from Group 1 will occupy the even-numbered starting grid positions.
James Jakes posted the quickest lap in Group 1 (1:18.1704) in the No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He’ll also start on the front row — an IZOD IndyCar Series career high through 37 races. In 1992, team co-owner Bobby Rahal started second and went on to win the race at Belle Isle.
